Device for separating metal sheets.



A. E. GRANT.

DEVICE FOR SEPARATING METAL SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.18, 1912.

1,109,676, Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

5 SHEETT-SHEET l.

WITNESSES; INVENTOR Wei, 6042, avg QM (fWMM ATTY v A. E. GRANT.

DEVICE FOR SBPAHATING METAL SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 18, 1912,

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTY

A. E. GRANT.

DEVICE FOR SEPARATING METAL SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO.18, 1912.

1,109,676. V f Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

5 $HEETSSHEET 3.

WITNESSES; I VENTOR 'Mu/f? 9 @mazfi fl BY W I A. E. GRANT.

DEVICE FOR SEPARATING METAL SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1912.

Patented Sept.8,1914.

5 SHEETS SHBET 4.

ATTY

A, B. GRANT. DEVICE FOR SEPARATING METAL SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.18, 1912.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914'."

5 SHBET$SHEET 5.

'INVENTOR. wm

WITNESSES:

Mai 60 041 ATTY UNITED fsra'rns PATENT o mucn.

ALBERT E. GRANT, OF TROY, NEW YORK. ASSIGN OR T0 JOHN MOIR GRANT, OFPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

To all? 'lc/znm it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. GRANT, a

citizen of the United States of America, residing at the city of Troy,in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Devices for Separating Metal Sheets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for separating metal sheets, and theobject of my invention is to provide a machine for opening a pack ofmetal sheets and delivering each separate sheet from tlie machine;together with such elements and combinations as are hereinafter moreparticularly set forth and claimed. I accomplish these objects by meansof the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l'i's a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3is an end view. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section along the line A-A on Fig.2. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the vacuum cup and clamps. Fig. 6 is a planof the vacuum plunger. Fig. 7 isa detail view of the segment gear andits conne'-c-.

tions. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the pinch rollers, showing theirposition when the metal sheets are first put in the machine.

Fig. 9 is a detail view, showing'the position of the pinch rollers afterthe metal sheets have beenoperated uponby them. Fig. 10 is a detail Viewwith parts broken away, showing the-track and the position of the -metalsheets as they are moved by the racks.

' Fig. 11 is a detail view of the pawl and trip mechanism. Fig. 12 is adetail view of the disks, 18 and 25, and manner of connecting them up. 1

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

,In the manufacture of metal sheets of .light gage, tin plate, etc., itis the practice to double the sheets one or more times and roll them.together in .what is known as a pack. A pack contains from two to eightor more thin sheets slightly stuck together in the process of rolling.'The sheets in the pack are then separated, or, as generally termed,opened by hand.

The machine is. constructed essentially as follows The small'idlerollers l, 2 and 3,

revolve in the notched slide, 6, and the roll-- ers,..4 and 5, revolvein the. two arms. 7,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

Application filed December 18, 1912. Serial No. 737,384.

which are held together by the plate, 8, see F lgs 8, 9 and 10. The armswith rollers, and o, are lunged on the trunnions of roller.

o, and when the slide, 6, is drawn up the .rollers, 9, also attached tothe arms, 7, roll on the tracks, 10, shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and causerollers, 1, 2, 4 and 5, to come in contact with one another andpinch'the end of the pack, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10 and by the dottedand dash lines in Fig. 2. 'The lever, 11, to which is attached theweight, 12, 1S pivoted at 13, and is held in position bv theset screw,14. g It isalso connected by the rod, 15, to the lever, 16, which ispivoted to the bar, 17. This bar is held in a notch in the disk, 18, bythe spring, 19, see Fig. 10. The lower end of the lever, 1.6,is'gr'ooved to fit over the rod, 20, and .is limitedin its travel by anut on the end of the rod. other end of this rod is fastened to the arm,21, which is fastened to the shaft, 93, see Fig} 3. To this shaft is'also'fastened the long arm, 92. The other long arm, '91, is pivoted at22. Both long arms extend up through a slot in table, 23, and are eachheld A against the pack on the table by the springs,

24, see Fig. 2.

\Vhen the last sheet in the pack on the table has been taken away, thelong arms are forced by springs to the end oftheir slots in the table,23, and pull the nut on the end. of rod, 20, against the end of lever,16.

hen a new pack is placed on the plate, 8, itslides down and strikes theend of lever, 11, which is forced back and pulls lever, 16, which pullsthe bar, 17, from the notch in disk, 18, see Figs. 7 and 10. With thisarrangement, .or something of similar construction, the'sheets in thepack on the table must be placed on the plate, 8, before the bar can bedrawn from the notch in disk, 18.

-The disk, 18, is in one piece with disk, 25,

shown in Figs. 1 and 1.2, which is provided with a notch for the pawl,26, and pivot, 27, see Figs. 2, 7 and 11, which is connected by the rod,28, to the movable end of the table, 23, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 11,which swings about the pins, 29, andwhich is made yielding toaccommodate di'ifercnt thicknesses of packs" by the springs, 88, 89, and

90. \Vhenthe bar, 17, is pulled from the notch in disk, 18, which isloose on the shaft, 30, it revolves on the shaft and lets. the tabledrop down to a position shown by dotted and dash lines in Fig. 2 and byfull lines in Fig. 10, and which is limited by a stop.

lVhen the disk drops it strikes the bar,

'31, and pulls the clutch pin, 82, from its makes about seven-eighths ofa revolution and only when the gear, segment is in its extremeright-hand position can the jaw of the sliding clutch enter the notch inthe pinion. \Vhen the gear segment throws to the left, when the clutchis in, it revolves the shaft, 30, to which is keyed the gear wheels, 30and 37, and pawl arm, 38,. The gears engage with'the racks, 39 and 40,which are fastened to the slide, 6, see Figs. 1, 2, 7 and 10. The pawlarm brings the pawl behind the notch in the disk and when the gear segment, 35, travels to the right the pawl on arm, 38, engages withthenotch in disk, 25, and brings disk, 18, and pivot, 27, up'until thebar, 17, springs into the notch in disk, 18, see Figs. 10 and 11. Atthis point the pawl is released from its notch in disk, 25,

y striking against the lug, 41, and is held in position by the bar, 17,in the notch in disk, 18, shown in Figs. 7 and 10.

In bringing the disk and pivot up, the movable end of the table, 23,which is connected to the pivot, 27, by the rod, 28, is also brought upand the bar, 81; is released and the clutch pin, 32, pulls the slidingclutch, 33, from the pinion, 34, which is then free to rotate backwardand forward with the gear segment, 35.

The gear segment, 35, is keyed to the shaft, 42, to which also keyedthearms, 48 and 44. The arms are rocked back and forth by the connectingrod, 45, which is pinned to the gear wheel, 46, keyed to shaft, 48, seeFigs. 1 and 2. This gear is rotated by engaging with the pinion, 47,keyed to the shaft, 49, which is driven by means of the belt pulley, 50,(or a motor, an engine or any other convenient form of power), seeFig. 1. The upper ends of the arms, 43 and 44, are slotted to receive asliding hearing which turns on the trunnions of the large roll, 51, andcause it to roll back and forth on the movable table, 23, which holdsthe pack to be separated- The large roll, 51, is

held from sipping by the gears, 52 and 53, which are keyed to thetrunnions of the large roll and engage with-the stationary racks, 54 andThe rollers, 56 and 57, are loose on the trunnions of roll, 51, and arein contact with the rails, 58 and 59, which are stationary and preventthe large roll from being lifted from the pack on the table, The shoe,60, slides over the pack on the table and is connected to the trunwheelkeyed on the shaft, 49.

The stationary dogs, 67 and 68, are pivoted and fall behind the ack whenslide, 6, bringsit up and when it returns they pull it from between therollers in the slide and hold it until the table, 23, forces it up incontact with the under side of roll, 51. It will be noticed that thepack of metal plates is delivered in a position diagonally to the axisof the machine, as is shown in Fig. 1, where the pack is illustrated bydash lines, 100. The pack is then held from being pushed forward by thearms, 91 and 92, by the lugs, 69 and 70.

Recesses are provided in the shoe, 60, and roll, 51, to allow them topass over the lugs, 69 and 70, and the ends of arms, 91 and 92.

In the body of the large roll, 51, is a means for producing a vacuum,see Fig. 4, which pulls off the top sheet of the pack and holds itagainst the surface of the roll where it is held by a clamp. Thisconsists of a rod, 71, help up by the spring, 72, which is strong enoughto break the vacuum in the vacuum cup, 7 3, which is made of somepliable material, attached to the lower end of the rod, 71.- To the rodis pivoted one end of a bell crank, 74, the other end being pivoted tothe movable pin, 75. To the rod is also attached a collar, 76, as shownin Figs. 4 and 5, to which is pivoted one end of the toggles, 77 and 78,the other ends being pivoted to the endsof the bell cranks, 79 and 80,and the ends of the bell cranks are pivoted to the clamps, 81 and 82,which are given a parallel motion by the links, 83 and 84.

\Vhen the roll, 51, is in its extreme lefthand position, as shown bydash lines in Fig. 4, the movable pin, 75, strikes against a projection,109, on the frame of the machine, and by the aid of the bell crank, 74,forces rod, 71, down, thereby opening the clamps and squeezing the airfrom the vacuum cup, 73, producing a vacuum. lVhen the roll, 51, startsto the right the pin, 7 5, is released and the spring, 72, pulls up therod, 71, and the vacuum cup, 73, which brings With it the corner of thetop sheet, 110, in the pack. At the same time the clamps, 81 and 82,close and hold the sheet firmly against the surface of the roll, 51, andhold it there as it rolls toward the right, pulling a sheet with it fromthe pack which is held down to the table by the sliding shoe, 60, and bythe the guides, 86 and 87. This is shown clearly in Fig. l. Afterleavingthe machine the sheets are either piled or carrled away by a conveyer.

I do not limit myself to the form or-construction of the machine, asdisclosed, because the roll, 51, may operate on a curved surface as wellas on a straight surface, and in a vertical-or inclined plane as well asin a horizontal plane. Nor do I limit myself to the manner of causingthe pack to enter the machine; nor the means for delivering the pack to.thetable, 23; nor the means for operating the machine. i

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters'Patent is:

1. A device for separating sheets of a pack, comprising a means forpinching and bending one corner ofthe pack, thereby loosening the sheetsfrom each other at that corner; a vacuum cup; and means for bringing thevacuum cup in engagement with that corner of the sheets, one afteranother, that have been thus loosened.

2. A device for separating separate sheets of pack of metal plates,comprising a yielding table; means for conveying the pack of sheets tothe table; means for bending the ends of the sheets; a vacuum cup;

means for applying said vacuum cup to one of the sheets and lifting saidsheet from the pack; means for holding the other of said sheets than theone thus separated in position on the table until the separated sheetis,

entirely removed from the pack.

3. In a device for separating sheets of a pack of metal plates, meansfor conducting the pack to a yielding table; a yielding table; means inconnection With said table for causing it to be moved in the same planeas said conducting means, whereby the pack may he moved along sa1dconducting means onto said table; a vacuum cup; means for causing saidvacuum cup to engage the upper sheet of the pack; means for causingsaidvacuum cup to lift said upper sheet and carry, the same clear of thepack; means for engaging said sheet after it'has been separated from thepack; means for causingsaid vacuum cup to break its connection with thesheet, substantially as described.

1. In a device for separating sheets of a pack of metal 'plates, mea'nsfor conducting the pack, comprising a plate upon which the pack isplaced; a series of rollers adapted to engage and bendthe ends of thepack when .the plate containing them is moved toward a horizontalposition; means for moving the pack held by the said rollers to ayielding table, substantially as described.

' '5. In a device for separating sheets of a pack of metal-plates, alarge roll; a table over which it rolls; asliding shoe; rods connectingsaid shoe to the trunnions of the said large roll; means carried by saidroll for separating from the pack one of the sheets; and means forcausing said shoeto hold the remaining sheets of the pack on the tableduring the operation of the large roll.

6. A device for separating sheets of a pack of metal plates, comprisinga plate adapted to raise the pack and hold it with one end' elevatedabove the other; a series of rollers so arranged and connected up thatwhen the pack is moved toward the horizontal the rollers will grip theends of the pack and bend the same; means for moving the pack as thusheld by the rollers toward a yielding bed; a yielding bed; means forengaging the pack and causing it to leave the rollers and rest upon thebed; mechanical-means applied to the pack resting on thebed for raisingone end of one of the layers of said pack; means for guiding the raisedlayer of said pack away from the machine, substantially as described.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live sac-1i. byasidressing the'vvashingtoigfi G.

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